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Letter: What do we mean by 'survival of the fittest'?

Published 17 June 2026

From James Fradgley, Wimborne, Dorset, UK

Reading your leader about the origin story of life, I was reminded of how people conflate the idea that “survival of the fittest” means “ruthless”. It doesn’t. It means “survival of one who best fits the environment in which it finds itself”. In saying competition is what it’s all about, Charles Darwin did not suggest what the nature of that competition might be (Leader, 30 May).

Issue no. 3600 published 20 June 2026

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